School and the City

Valentine's Day falls on a Friday this year - AKA a full school day... on the same week as a full moon... YIKES! Don't worry - I've got some ideas to help keep you sane during those eight SWEET hours! Need a read aloud? Here are a few of my favorites. Click the links below the picture to shop on Amazon. Thank goodness for that 2-day shipping, amIright? Or, check your school library! Make the story work for your current reading skill. Or, use the text to review something generic like summarizing or being kind to others. Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine Love Monster Love From the Crayons The Invisible String Need lesson plans to keep you - and your students - somewhat sane? No problem, friend! I've got you covered. Are you looking for an engaging resource to make Valentine's Day meaningful, academic, yet super-engaging? Want a simple, no-prep resource that you can use ALL DAY long on a crazy holiday? Are you hoping to ...

Are you looking for an engaging resource to make the instructional days before Thanksgiving meaningful, academic, yet super-engaging? Want a simple, no-prep resource that you can use ALL DAY long as you near a crazy holiday? Are you hoping to cater to varying learning styles and free up time for yourself to enrich or remediate as needed? Look no further! I am thrilled to introduce my newest product to you: Thanksgiving choice boards!  No need to dread those instructional  days before Thanksgiving  break... gobble up a super-engaging, easy day of fun!  ⁣ I’ve created two choice boards - math and literacy - to help you make teaching on on those long days before Thanksgiving simple yet meaningful. ⁣ ⁣ ✅  standards-based skills⁣ ✅  editable to fit your needs ⁣ ✅  low prep (just make copies!)⁣ ✅  cross-curricular connections ⁣ ✅  real world connections ⁣ ✅  high-interest topics and tasks⁣ ✅  review of previously-learned skill...

Halloween falls on a Thursday this year - AKA a full school day... YIKES! Don't be too frightened; I've got some ideas to help keep you sane on one of the spo0o0okiest teaching days of the year. Need a class pumpkin? It's not complicated or fancy, but I actually loveee this basic class pumpkin - simple and sweet! I'm totally doing this again this year. #easiestideaever Need a read aloud? I love reading Junie B books during the holidays. They are hilarious and timeless - even my third graders love Junie B! The short chapter books are easy to read to your class in a week - or even just a few days - in order to cover those holiday bases and then move on. Junie B's Halloween book is called Boo, and I Mean It . It's less than five bucks on Amazon! It's perfect for discussing character traits because, well, she's one of my favorite characters ever! Need lesson plans to keep you - and your students - sane? No problem, friend! I'...

I am SO thankful for you, so I thought I'd share a freebie with you that I hope will be useful in your classroom! My text features products are some of my absolute favorites. I originally created them my own classroom. I needed a way to assess my students’ understanding of text features other than by observation, and I wanted the assessment to tie in curriculum and relevant content. Thus, this product line was born. The kids have fun using different colors to identify the different text features, and it provides great work samples for me. I first made them about science and social studies topics , then biographies , then holidays ! I'd love for you to download the Thanksgiving text features passage for FREE!  Join my newsletter & I'll send it for FREE! I promise I'll never spam you or share your email address.  Send me the freebie!  We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered By ConvertKit

I teach in a great area of Metro Atlanta that is a true melting pot. The diversity in my classroom is truly amazing. I have learned so much about other cultures and languages from my students.  That being said, I can't do Christmas in my classroom anymore, so I thought I'd share an activity that I did a few years ago.  After Thanksgiving break, I chose Flat Stanley's Christmas Adventure as our read aloud. It's short and sweet, and the kids were thrilled to hear that they would get to take Stanley home! We were working on letter writing, and I thought it would be a fun way to learn more about my students and differing holiday traditions. It went so well!  I chose to use two notebooks, since I had 25 students and I didn't have 25 school days until Christmas. Split in half, it took a little over two weeks to get the project done.  I had a schedule taped inside the notebook, along with instructions and a pocket for Flat Stanley.  (I ha...

If you are still in school... Yikes! And I'M SO SORRY! But you'll still be kicked back and relaxed while the rest of us are scrambling at the beginning of August... I have more good news for you: This Father's Day project is quick, and easy. It requires almost no prep and the fathers of your students will truly treasure it forever. There are many newspaper writing projects in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, but to let you in on a little secret, the Mother's Day and Father's Day newspapers are my favorites. (That's probably because they came first - They are the OGs!) Newspaper projects are simple. 1. Download . 2. Print. 3. Create an example or explain thoroughly. 4. Kids write. 5. Kids draw and color. (I make my students get their writing approved before they begin to draw and color.) 5. Create the newspaper by stapling the pages together or gluing them on a large piece of construction paper. You will definitely need to model, model, model...

Few things at school stress me out more than holidays that require students to make gifts for their parents. I want my parents to be impressed and flattered, I really do, but I also want them to know that I use classroom time effectively to teach their students as much as possible.  Some of the gifts that I have seen teachers have their students make for their parents are over-the-top extravagant and, worst of all, expensive! Frankly, as a beginning teacher, I can't afford to spend more on my classroom than I already do. I love my students' parents and am so thankful for them, and I wish I had an endless supply of cash, but I would rather invest in books for my classroom library.  Last year, I created a product that would meet my needs as a teacher. Not only is the project print-and-go with no prep required, it also showcases a student's academic talent, creativity, AND - most importantly - his or her LOVE for mom!  My moms from last year absolutely loved ...

Do you ever have a light bulb moment and try to throw an activity together at the last minute? I do. All the time.  Sometimes I kick myself for it, but sometimes it works out wonderfully, like this one did. I present to you...One ODD Turkey. I had the idea that students could create a turkey that has all odd numbers of body parts.  (1 leg, 3 eyes, 5 feathers, 3 wattles, and so on.) Even and odd is a second grade standard that we practice throughout the year. Then I decided to take it a step further and create a classroom store so students could "buy" the materials they wanted to complete their projects. All second graders need practice counting coins and making change.  If I had thought of this farther in advance, I would have asked a parent or two to come help me. Instead, I did it all myself. In addition to all of the usual hats that teachers wear, I was also "cashier" and photographer. However chaotic, it was a BLAST! First, students ...

Happy April - It's officially my birthday month!  We had fun celebrating April Fools' Day in second grade today. One of my kiddos got me before I could play any tricks of my own! Before the bell even rang, I found this guy on my chair at my kidney table. EEEEK! Don't worry, I got to play some tricks of my own. First, we took a " Following Directions Test. " I told the kids that it's super easy - all they have to do is follow directions! (This is true, but easier said than done...) I remember taking one of these trick tests when I was in third grade. I'll never forget it! Then, I told my kids that we were going to do word searches for fun word work today! I told them that the first one to find all of their spelling words would win a piece of candy. Little did they know, NONE of their spelling words were actually hidden in the word search. I had them going for a good 5 minutes... by then some kids were getting too frustrated and...